Archive for the ‘Blog’ Category

Holzma (now Homag) has created a reputation for being one of the go-to manufacturers for beam and panel saws in the world. Their markets include cabinet makers, home and office furniture manufacturers, kitchen manufacturers, shop and store fixtures, the panel producing industry, and much more.

To serve the diverse needs of their customers, they’ve created several different series of saws. The Series 1 – 5 beam saws have an array of special capabilities and differences. While we won’t get into the specifics of each type here on this forum, we do want to highlight the specific models for which ToolWolf carries table and circular saw blades.

ToolWolf prides itself on having one of the largest selections of tungsten carbide-tipped wood boring bits and solid carbide router bits on the internet.

For over a decade, our experienced team of woodworking professionals has scoured the world – from Europe to Asia – to find the best cutting tools for both the large and boutique woodworking shops in the U.S. We carry a full line of metric boring bits for both line boring and CNC machines. We also offer a full range of solid carbide compression router bits for CNC applications.

Here are a few other inventory categories that we provide to our clientele:

We don’t generally like to toot our own horn, but it’s ok if our customers do it! ToolWolf recently worked with one of its best customers – a 100-person custom furniture manufacturer in the Southeast U.S. – to run a comparison test between our German-made Schaffer panel saw blades and the blades of three other brands.

Why did our customer choose to do this test? A few reasons. First, their local saw shop was offering all three competing blades and they were curious how the Schaffer brand would perform. Second, they genuinely wanted to see if there were any differences in longevity between the various brands of German descent.

Our customer has two production lines running each day, so they developed a testing methodology whereby the Schaffer blades would run on one line and the competitor on the other. Each set of blades was subjected to the same production requirements in terms of cuts per hour, sheets per cut and identical material type. Their primary measurement, besides cut quality, was to look at how long each set of blades could run before being pulled off for sharpening.

Shown below are the side-by-side comparisons our customer reported back to us:

Schaffer vs. FS Tool blades = 12% longer run time

Schaffer vs. Guhdo blades = 8% longer run time

Schaffer vs. Leitz blades = 9% longer run time

Schaffer out-performed all three competitors.

As their results showed, the Schaffer brand provided longer run times in each comparison. The other feedback we received was that the cut quality was better for the Schaffer blades in all cases as well.

We recognize that there are a lot of quality panel saw blade manufacturers out there. We do think it’s noteworthy, however, that the feedback we receive time and again from our customers is that the Schaffer brand is superior. This was the first time that a customer provided us with actual data to show it, so we are forever grateful to them for running the test.

Thanks to all of our customers. May the second half of 2017 be a great year for all in the woodworking industry!

ToolWolf has been providing corrugated bar stock to our millwork and custom woodworking customers for years. It has become a much bigger part of our product line in the last twelve months, so we wanted to share with you some of the different types of moulder steel that we’re now carrying.

Corrugated-Back Moulder Knives

ToolWolf partners with a leading European manufacturer to bring you high-quality knife stock that you can rely upon. We stock the M2 grade of steel, as well as T1 and M42 in multiple sizes of both the 1/4″ and 5/16″ thickness. We also carry filler stock.

Moulder knives for your Williams & Hussey and similar Shopfox planer/moulders are available in a variety of grades to best address your job. We carry these knives in standard high-speed steel – smooth-back and corrugated-back.

Replacement Knives for the Tersa Brand

Whether you need M2, M42 or solid carbide replacement knives for your Tersa system, we have the inventory to get you up-and-running in no time. We carry sizes all the way from 60mm to 650mm.

ToolWolf’s product line has come a long way over the years. We’re proud to provide the tooling for a fast-growing list of craftsmen who want high quality cutting tools, delivered fast for a great price.

Line boring machines are nowhere near as prominent as they once were. With the advent of CNC machines for routing, boring and sawing tasks, the old-line boring machines have fallen off as the go-to piece of equipment in most custom cabinet makers’ shops. But, that’s not to say that they don’t still perform their primary function – creating dowel or through holes in melamine or plywood – quite well.

ToolWolf is committed to its long list of craftsmen who still utilize their line boring machines every day to create high quality millwork and cabinetry. As such, we stock a lot of hard-to-find sizes and types of metric boring bits. In this post, we want to briefly describe the boring bits we carry for one of the most famous line boring machines – the Ayen.

Differences between Ayen bits and regular metric boring drills:

Not all boring bits are created equal. Sure, the cutting diameters of most are measured in millimeters, but that’s where the similarities end. For Ayen machine enthusiasts, the boring bits for their machines are much different than those for other types of line boring or CNC machines.

The primary difference is that Ayen bits come with a threaded shank that screws into the drill head on the machine. This is different than standard bits that have a smooth round shank, with a flat on one side, which mount to their machines with two set screws. The Ayen boring bits come in either an 8mm or 10mm diameter threaded shank. ToolWolf carries both.

The next difference is in the standard cutting length. Ayen bits come with a standard cutting length of 43mm, which is quite a bit longer than the 27mm or 35mm cut lengths common to regular metric boring bits.

The threaded shank and longer cutting length give the Ayen bits the dual advantages of a more secure mount and a longer cutting length for the craftsman whose dowel or through bore holes must be of high quality and consistency.

While ToolWolf does keep both the dowel (brad point) and thru-bore (v-tip), and 8mm or 10mm shank, Ayen bits in stock, we don’t list them on the website due to their special nature. If you’re interested, give us a call at 801-742-1741 or email us at sales@toolwolf.com and we can provide availability and pricing information. You can also find us by clicking the link to our contact us page. Thanks!

We get asked all the time by custom cabinet shops, closet makers and other small woodworking professionals to explain the best applications for brad point, thru bore or hinge boring bits. For many craftsmen, they’re accustomed to dealing with tools built using the U.S. standard form of measurement – not the metric system.

Since most of the major woodworking equipment manufacturers got their start in Europe, many of the industrial woodworking tools were manufactured to metric specifications (as this is the common standard of measurement throughout much of the world). For professionals just getting started with European-made machinery, we’re giving a high-level overview below of the three main types of drills and boring tools that they’re likely to encounter, including their best application.

Brad Point (or Dowel) Boring Bits
Brad Point drills provide a clean entry and flat bottom hole in laminated composite wood and solid wood materials. Brad Point drills will likely “blow out” the exit hole in most materials; however, when supported by a spoil board an acceptable exit hole may be obtained in some materials.
Brad Point drills are typically used to provide a flat bottom drill hole for dowels, shelve pins and fasteners.
Drills utilize the industry standard 10mm diameter shank with set screw flat. The shank is internally threaded and holds a set screw for depth of cut adjustments or the set screw can be removed to use quick change connectors.

Thru-Bore (or V-tip) Boring Bits
Thru-bore drills provide a clean entry and exit hole in laminated composite wood and solid wood materials. They are designed to avoid “blow out” from the exit hole in most materials.
Thru-bore drills are typically used to provide a clean drill hole for connections and fasteners.
Drills utilize the industry standard 10mm diameter shank with set screw flat. The shank is internally threaded and holds a set screw for depth of cut adjustments or the set screw can be removed to use quick change connectors.

Hinge (or Forstner-style) Boring Bits
Hinge bit drills have a centering point and two carbide spur cutters to provide a clean entry and exit hole in single or double-sided laminated composite and solid wood materials.
Hinge bit drills are used to provide drill holes for hinge, lock and door assemblies.
Drills utilize the industry standard 10mm diameter shank with set screw flat. The shank is internally threaded and holds a set screw for depth of cut adjustments or the set screw can be removed to use quick change connectors.
Hinge bit drills are available in custom diameters and designs. Solid carbide insert knife versions are available and provides for lower operating costs in high volume production applications.

ToolWolf is excited to announce that we now carry even more types and sizes of solid carbide compression router bits for CNC applications. We’ve been experimenting with different types of carbide for the last year and have found a supplier that not only has an excellent standard grade, but also an amazing premium grade carbide that provides even longer life.

Not only do we offer our compression spirals in both standard and premium grade, we also are offering a few key sizes with a mortise tip. And we even carry a few of these in a left-handed rotation! I know, we’re getting crazy.

Here are a few of the common sizes that we’re excited to offer our customers in premium grade and with a mortise tip:

ToolWolf would like to extend a sincere thanks to our customers who kept us going in 2015. We had custom cabinet shops, California Closets, Closets by Design and all manner of industrial woodworking customers join us last year. ToolWolf is proud to offer the largest inventory of panel saw blades, metric boring bits, carbide inserts and solid carbide router bits on the internet.

In particular, our line of Schaffer panel saw blades were a big hit in 2015. Everyone loves their German quality. We have increased our inventory to make sure we have them available for whatever machine or application you are running, including:

Another item that our customers found particularly valuable was our line of solid carbide metric boring bits. These woodworking tools have a solid carbide spiral – from the cutting tip to the shank – to provide longer life and a higher quality cut. These are available in a wide array of sizes, from 3mm – 10mm in diameter and 57mm – 77mm in overall length (all with a 10mm round shank). They also come in:

For years, ToolWolf has been the leading industry supplier of panel saw blades and boring bits for custom cabinet makers and the custom closet industry. In fact, we have many customers who belong to the Cabinet Makers Association, an organization that provides great resources to its members:

ToolWolf is a leading supplier to the custom closet industry. Our customers include many California Closets and Closets by Design locations. The main industrial tooling that the makers of custom closets most like is our line of solid carbide boring bits. You can check them out here:

There are several advantages to the solid carbide boring bits over regular tungsten carbide tipped boring bits:

Cutting edges stay sharper for longer
Slightly modified cutting angle of the spiral is ideal for melamine and other laminate materials
They are only slightly more expensive than regular carbide tipped boring bits
They can be sharpened more times and have a longer overall life span

Our custom closet manufacturers love these bits. ToolWolf is one of the leading suppliers of cutting tools to the industrial woodworking marketplace.